


The Voice of Reason

by Japkot



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Origins, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-01-20 08:32:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Japkot/pseuds/Japkot
Summary: Steven Universe, a boy living with 3 magical aliens and having magical powers himself courtesy of his mother who gave up her physical form to bring him into the world. You'd think his life couldn't get any weirder, but it is about to get a lot weirder once he realizes that the gems are hiding something big from him...AU- Diverges from Canon after the beginning of Season 2





	1. Hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven starts finding perplexing clues...

"If every porkchop were perfect we wouldn't have hot dogs!"

Steven grinned when he heard his father's iconic words, relieved to hear that his father was not angry about the fact that his son had broken a picture of him and the love of his life. Although the expression was only momentary, as he was immediately distracted by a glow coming from right in front of him right after his father had stopped speaking.

He immediately turned to see, coming face to face with the very thing he was searching for.

And more…

There the cannon was! Elegant in design with smooth white surface, three times as tall as he was, maybe even more! With little roses blooming from the thick pink crystalline legs that balanced the whole thing. It was glowing too, as if it was responding to his presence near it, he gazed at it in awe for a second before his attention was diverted to the other thing near it.

This was a cannon too, although classifying it as the same thing as the glowing one right next to it felt weird. This one was big, bigger than the light cannon itself, he could’ve fit himself into the barrel and still have plenty of room for other activities if he wanted too.

It wasn’t too pleasant to look at like the other one either, it looked alike the ones he’d see on the internet that were from the Medieval times. Made from iron, with chips surrounding its barrel like it was worn from overuse. He couldn’t help but be curious about what it was for…

Although that curiosity could be saved for later, the gems needed the Light Cannon and the pink-white one was clearly it. He needed to get it to them before that Red Eye destroyed Beach City!

* * *

“Hey Garnet?”

“Yes, Steven?”

“What are those?” He asked, pointing at a group of bubbles in the Bubble Room. They looked separated from the normally disorganized group of bubbles that were strewn about throughout the room randomly, and that was besides the fact that their coloring was slightly different at a closer glance.

The gem in question spared a brief glance at the direction he was pointing at, “Those are bubbles Steven.” Garnet said, as stoic as ever.

“I know what they are,” He said, somewhat grumpily at the cheeky answer, “But why are they…” He wracked his brain for a proper way to ask the question, “Different?” He asked, tentatively.

Garnet stopped her little examination of the bubbles and turned to Steven, pointing at another bubble right atop his head, “There are many different colored bubbles here that don’t belong to me, Pearl or Amethyst.” She said, opening her palm and letting the light blue bubble she was pointing at descend on it, “Like this one, which belongs to Opal,”

Steven gasped, “Who does it belong to then?” He asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up with all the possibilities, what if it belonged to whomever Garnet and Pearl fused into? What if it was one of his mother's fusions, what if they were someone else's?!

But his excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment after Garnet let the bubble float back to its place, smiling as she ruffled his hair, “It’s a surprise…” His disappointment was not to last however, as the rare smile from Garnet was enough to swing his mood back to the positive, “Come on Steven, let’s get you something to eat,”

She let Steven lead the way out of the Temple, although not before sparing a glance back at the group of bubbles, not fazed at all when suddenly another bubble appeared to join them...

* * *

The screen door of the Beach House was suddenly slammed open as Steven barged into it, shouting at the top of his lungs as the suddenness of the whole ordeal startled the Crystal Gems who were going about their business, “Garnet! Pearl! Amethyst! You won’t believe what happened!”

Amethyst was the first one to talk as they gathered around him, “What? Did you get another weird backpack from the mailman or something?”

Steven paused for a moment, grinning in embarrassment before discarding the box he was holding in his hand, “Well yes… But there is something else!” He said, the urgency in his tone returning in full force, “I was going to the Big Donut to show Lars and Sadie my new Wacky Sack and I saw another one of Peridot's robot thingies on the beach!”

Of course the gems were immediately alert, “Did you see where it was headed?” Asked Pearl, her eyes wide with urgency.

“It was already broken!”

The gems sighed in relief, apparently not bothered at all that they had no idea how they had missed the robot landing and being destroyed.

“Guys! Isn’t it a bit suspicious that none of us knew _how_ it got destroyed?”

That made them all tense, as their gazes landed on him. There was the appropriate reaction he expected when he told them about the robot, although he still thought that there was something off about the way the Gems were acting, “Uuh, Guys?”

Garnet was the one to answer, “It may have got destroyed upon landing.” Her tone was dismissive, but she still gestured the Gems toward the door, “But we’ll still check it out if it bothers you,” She ruffled his hair as the gems left ahead of her, “We learned not to overlook your observations,” He beamed at her subtle praise and waved them goodbye from the porch as they left, sure that the Gems would do whatever it takes to get it done.

Now where was the box cutter...

* * *

 

This had been a very hectic week.

Steven would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t still reeling from the affects of it. Who wouldn’t be after getting knocked unconscious, abducted into space, taking part in an interstellar jailbreak and worst of all, trying to break all ties with his best friend in the entire world...

And now he was faced with something else...

While he was walking on the beach looking for any Gem Warship the Gems might have missed while they were cleaning up, he stumbled onto something that was very unusual, and not unusual in the way that he dealt with daily, this was _unusual,_ unusual...

There was a smoking crater on the beach, and upon further inspection, Steven could see just see something peeking over the edge.

He moved closer to take a better look, peeking over the edge of the crater. He was met with a distinctively familiar sight, broken pieces of the cannon he’d first seen in his dad’s garage was scattered while a big piece of the barrel looked like it was shredded to pieces by something big.

Steven looked at the Temple, debating if he should get the Gems to look at it or just go to his dad and ask if he knew anything about it. Although it would be pretty fu-

“S-Steven!” He jumped when he heard Pearl’s voice frantically calling his name, almost falling into the crater headfirst, “Get away from there!”

“Sorry Pearl!” He said, jumping to his feet and looking around for Pearl, “Pearl?” Where was she?

“Steven go back to the Temple,” Pearl said, her voice was firm. But she was nowhere to be found, no matter what direction he looked.

What was going on..?

“Steven!”

“Alright! Alright…” He slowly backed away from the crater, before fully turning around and heading for the Beach House, his eyes scanning along the coastline for the entirety of his slow trek.

There was no Pearl.

In fact, when he did find Pearl, she was in the Beach House, with no idea as to what he was talking about when he questioned her on it.

He couldn’t help but feel something was off…


	2. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Search for Malachite begins, as more clues about something amiss continue to surface...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking for a proofreader, be sure to leave a message on my inbox if you're interested.

Today was an important day.

Although not sure why exactly... Steven thought to himself, sitting alone one of the stools in the kitchen and basking in the morning sun that shine through the screen door as he silently nibbled on the waffles that were his breakfast, deep in thought about what the day might entail.

Garnet had sent him to bed early yesterday, saying that he needed to be up early for a mission. He hadn't thought about asking follow up questions of course, -to busy frantically preparing for sleep in excitement to do so- and now he was paying the price for it with curiosity.

Maybe it had something to do with Peridot. The Green Gem was still at large and the Gems were worried she might do something like repair the Galaxy Warp again. He didn't know how they would find her, but maybe she wouldn't prove to be as bad as Jasper, even if she did attempt to squish him to death with a giant floating hand.

Or he was wrong and the Gems just wanted a sense of normalcy after that experience, in which he could hardly blame them. Mostly because the only possible option for a mission -as far as he knew- was...

Lapis...

He set the last waffle back on its plate, suddenly not feeling all that hungry, he sighed and jumped down from the stool. With a quick glance at the Temple door to make sure no one was coming out, he grabbed his Cheeseburger Backpack and started to fill it up with necessities for the mission.

He thought it would distract him from the incoming thought process.

It didn't.

His thoughts soon drifted to Lapis; his friend who was currently at the bottom of the ocean, trying to hold Jasper with a fusion that may just be the scariest thing he'd ever seen in his entire life, which was pretty much a given seeing as it involved Jasper and her eerie grin that was pretty much burned into his permanent memory.

Garnet had said that a lot was needed to have a stable fusion, and he could see that Lapis and Jasper were anything but. He knew that it was his fault, and he needed to save Lap-

He heard the distinct sound of the Temple Door opening and turned around to see Garnet emerging from the temple, her stoic demeanor broke into a small smile when she saw him, a small smile which he tried to return even if it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I see that you've packed accordingly," She nodded. His raised his brow in confusion before turning to look and saw that he’d filled his backpack to the brim with stuff that one would associate with stuff they’d want to take if they wanted to have a fun day at the beach. Complete with sunscreen, assorted snacks and cold drinks. He would be amazed of all this happening while he let his mind wander but he was too busy processing Garnet’s words.

“Are we going to be near a Beach?”

Garnet nodded.

“Does that mean..?”

“Yes,”

Just then, the Temple door glowed purple and opened to reveal Amethyst and Pearl emerging from the Temple, the latter telling off the former _again_ for the state of her room as the former kicked some stray stuff back into her room with an exasperated expression as just before the door closed behind them.

Only a moment passed for Amethyst’s expression to change to her usual nonchalant cheerfulness as she spotted Steven, leaving an indignant Pearl to sputter after her as she left in the middle of her sentence.

“Hey Ste-man! Whatcha doin’?” She asked while tugging him into an affectionate noogie, which worked very well in getting him to quit his brooding, “Ready for a fun day at the beach?”

He struggled halfheartedly, groaning in amusement, “Amethyst!”

“Amethyst! Control yourself!” Pearl’s eyes narrowed, “And put your tongue back into your mouth.” Her serious facade only lasted for a moment though, as Steven and Amethyst (who still had her tongue out) exchanged a little glance before bursting into laughter at her absurd order, cracking her seriousness with a small smile.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Garnet calmly ordered, gathering the attention on herself before continuing, “Today we’ll begin the search for Lapis and Jasper. They need to be found before Lapis Lazuli loses control of the fusion and start wreaking havoc.”

“Couldn’t they just like…unfuse?” Amethyst asked, finally letting go of Steven and instead sitting down on the stairs.

Thinking of implications, Steven gulped.

Garnet looked at him for a moment before shaking her head, “I don't need to explain why that would be bad,”

“Okay Garnet," Pearl said, coming up next to Steven and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Where do we start?”

“Just outside, where we landed.” Murmurs of understanding sounded and the Crystal Gems headed for the door immediately, Steven having already packed for them all.

Perhaps it was a blessing that no one spared a second glance back while they were leaving the Beach House, as a brief and nearly inaudible tune reverberated throughout the house, it's source being the Warp Pad...

* * *

Once they had assembled at the Beach, the assignments had been given.

They were rather simple, Pearl was to dispatch a dozen of her Holo-Clone’s to search the Ocean Floor for any sight of the errant unstable fusion while she would stay on the Beach and monitor their progress. Amethyst had taken to the air in the form of a purple eagle and would report any unusual activity she may happen upon. Meanwhile Garnet had set cross-legged on the Beach, searching through the future for the fusion.

All the while Steven had taken it upon himself to handle the comfort and refreshment department for the Gems. He had set a towel on the ground for the Gems to sit on, and had erected a parasol so that the two weren’t distracted by the sun. A quick run to the Big Donut and he had procured a box of donuts that he had left for Amethyst for her to munch on whenever she swooped down.

He had also dragged an icebox from his home, which he used to store his previous refreshments along with what was there before, leaving it open partially with the hopes that Garnet and Pearl would try drinking them. Alas, it was to be for naught only Amethyst used the icebox contents, and that was to cool herself off before taking flight again.

A quick glance at the group might give off the impression that their minds weren’t really attached to the mission, a second glance would partially prove them right.

None of the Crystal seemed invested in the mission. It was obvious by Amethyst’s non-verbal insistence to come back more often than necessary, Pearl both not scolding her and frequently distracting herself from the monitoring to chatter away with Steven. Even Garnet didn’t look like she cared that much to begin with, her attention wholly on Steven as he sang, whom had seemingly adopting ‘Entertainment’ into his extensive list of responsibilities.

Even if the mission would not have much to show for in the end, it did wonders to restore a sense of normalcy after the hectic week they had. A small break before starting the cleanup process and finally rid themselves of these ‘new developments’ 

“You guys have any luck?” Amethyst asked, finally abandoning the facade of searching altogether and sitting down next to them, stretching as she got comfortable.

“Sadly, no,” Pearl said while Garnet settled on just shaking her head, “Maybe we should head back into the house, it’s clear we’re not going to find anything,”

“Come on P! Since when could we just relax like this?"

“I’ll admit, it certainly _feels_ like a long time ago,” Pearl sighed, and with a wave of her hand she fully turned to them.

The Gems sat in silence for a moment.

It certainly felt good...

Although like all good things, it would not last...

An unnatural sound cut through the silence like a knife through butter, causing all of them to jump in place, even Garnet had gone tense.

It had come from the Warp Pad inside the Beach House.

It was a frantic dash back inside, Steven was the last one to scramble to his feet and follow behind. Only coming to a stop when he ran into Garnet right in front of the threshold, allowing himself a moment to rub his head before peeking out from behind Garnet’s leg to see who came through.

“No one’s here…”

“Exactly,” Pearl said, looking around, “Do we need to search the Temple?”

Shockingly enough Garnet shook her head, moving forward and leaving Steven to stare at them, “Whoever it was has already left,”

Something suddenly popped into Steven’s mind, “What if it’s the same person who trashed the cannon in my Dad’s storage?!” His dad had said he didn’t know anything about it, but he was smart enough to know that something weird was going on, Pearl’s weird behavior on the day he found the cannon proved so.

“What cannon?” Amethyst asked, busying herself kneeling beside the Warp Pad and fiddling with a red comb in his hand.

“When I was searching for Mom’s cannon in Dad’s storage last year, I found this huge cannon next to Moms! I forgot about it until I stumbled onto it at the Beach the day we crashed the Gem ship, it was completely destroyed but I couldn’t get a closer look at it because Pearl said not to,”

Pearl nodded, much to Steven’s confusion. “It’s too dangerous to search around a wreckage,”

“B-but Pearl, you said you were at the house the whole time!”

The Gems glanced at each other, “I… Saw you from the porch and thought that I should warn you,” Pearl said, “Now excuse me Steven,” She quickly brushed past him and entered the Temple, quickly followed by Amethyst and Garnet, leaving Steven to stare as the Temple door closed behind them, leaving the 6 gems at the door to peer at him like inquisitive eyes...

Something fishy was going on with the gems...

And after a brief moment of thought, Steven decided that he was going to find out.


	3. Gem Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven gets some help in his mission, and it pays off...

Steven liked reading books.

It was a fairly new discovery, dating back to the time he was grounded from TV and Connie lent him some of her books to read from her extensive collection to keep him from getting bored. The new past-time had stuck even after he was un-grounded after a show of exceptional discipline in the handling of the Gem Monster that had entered the temple.

The new past-time was also the reason he’d waited an entire week for Connie to be available (Her mother had been able to to take a week's leave from her work to provide a rare vacation for their family) Because of a common theme he’d spotted while he was reading. Whenever kids were involved with a mystery, they _never_ went at it alone and had 2 people helping _at least._

He hadn’t spent all week loitering around of course, he’d also been off buying the very important supplies they needed for this mission, consisting of two detective hats and a pair of sunglasses that showed that they meant business.

One of the hats were already nestled on top of his curls, (The sunglasses were resting to the side, he didn’t want to put them on indoors.) while the other rested on Connie’s hands as she listened to him giving her the rundown of the mystery they were trying to solve

“...and then I decided I was going to find out!”

“Wait, you said the Gems were acting weird, how weird?”

“Remember when they said I wasn’t home after we got out of the handship?”

“That’s… pretty weird.” Connie nodded, before planting the detective hat on her head and grabbing the sunglasses after a moment of pondering, “I think we should start with asking your dad first, you did find that cannon in his storage space after all,” Steven brought a hand to his chin in a thoughtful frown before shaking his head.

“What if he starts acting weird too? He wasn’t eager to tell me about Homeworld and the war,”

“We have to ask, we don’t have much else to go on.”

Steven nodded, what he had investigated without Connie around had revealed that the cannon had disappeared without a trace, and him asking the Gems about it only yielded more awkwardness, which left him regretting even asking them anything.

"Alright then," He sighed, "Let's go," His voice only carrying a sliver of apprehension. It gave them a place to start investigating at least. So they donned the rest of their respective regalia and left the Beach House for their task...

* * *

 The sunglasses had come in handy.

Not for the intimidation factor Steven had been hoping for, but for the blinding Summer sun shining down upon Beach City on this cloudless day, coupled with getting a pair of discount coupons from Fish-Stew Pizza. (Courtesy of Jenny, who had slipped them to the kids while she was sweeping the boardwalk in front of the restaurant)

Not what he was going for, but hey! They must have been doing something right!

Steven’s eyes scanned the busy Boardwalk, taking in the sights of the businesses going about their day and people relaxing. His eyes trailed all the way to the near horizon, landing on the distinct outline of his dad’s workplace ‘It’s a Wash’

If he really strained his eyes, Steven could see a silhouette vaguely resembling his dad from the considerable distance, lounging on a pool chair and playing some tunes on his guitar as he enjoyed the light summer breeze. Business seemed light as usual, which made this a good of a time as any, even if he was prepared to be disappointed with the (very) probable fact that his father was probably not going to tell them anything.

He would cross that bridge when the time came.

And seeing as how his impatience had decided to rear its head, he decided he needed to get to the bridge faster if he wanted to cross it.

So he turned to Connie and exclaimed, “Race you to the Wash!” and bolted before she could answer.

He had a considerable head-start, but Connie was faster than he was, and he might as well consider that aforementioned head-start moot by this point if the rapidly approaching footsteps coming right behind him were to be of any indication.

They were neck and neck by the time Greg Universe noticed them, Steven pushing himself to the limit to be in the lead as Connie inched forward with each passing second, and it had finished just as he put away his guitar and stood up to hold his hands out to create an impromptu finishing line for them.

Connie’s hand came down just a few moments before Steven’s did...

Greg chuckled under his breath at their antics as the kids fought to steady their breathing from the extortion and their own laughter, “Hey Connie, Hey Shtoo-ball,” He was met with a chorus of strained breathing and mumbled greetings, much to his amusement, “Good to see you two.”

A moment passed before Steven was able to steady his breathing and look up at his dad, “Hey dad,”

“Likewise, Mr. Universe,”

“Congrats on winning the race Connie,”

Connie giggled in response, “Thank you,”

"You'll get it next time Steven," Greg said, ruffling a solemn looking Steven's hair. 

Steven nodded, "If every pork-chop was perfect, we wouldn't have hot-dogs," He recited, his tone entirely serious. 

Greg nodded back in approval, “Exactly! Now what brings you two here?" He tilted his head in a curious manner as he took in their unusual attire, "And in such fancy state no less,"

Steven looked at Connie, who nodded in confirmation at the silent inquiry and spoke first, "We... wanted to ask some questions, if that is okay with you?" The last part was dotted with a question mark. 

Greg was taken aback the sudden change in the tone of the conversation, rubbing the back of his head he shrugged and answered, "Sure... But I'm not sure if I would be able to if this is about Gem stuff, you know they don't want me getting involved with that." His tone was off when he uttered that last part, although neither of the kids were sure if it was still because of the tonal shift. 

This time it was Steven who asked, "It is about Gem Stuff...  Kinda."

"I can work with 'kinda'," Greg nodded, "Shoot,"

"You remember that time when we had to find Mom's Light Cannon to deal with that pinkeye thing?" Greg seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding in remembrance, "I found this other cannon next to it while searching! And while I was wonderinwandering around the Beach after we came back from space, I found it destroyed in the Beach!"

"We were wondering if you had any idea about what happened, since it was in your storage unit," Connie finished, both kids looking up the former rock star with hope. 

What happened next was something neither of the kids expected.

Greg's entire posture shifted as his demeanor changed from a good listeners to one of shock, before it turned into one of contemplation. His eyes drifted to his Van, before trailing to the Temple in the distance,  then back to the kids; the burning conflict within them obvious to both of them. 

"Uh, Dad?"

Greg didn't answer, only sighing. Prompting the kids to share a look of startled confusion in which the afternoon sun seemed to do nothing to the chills Steven and Connie were getting, . 

Several moments had passed before Greg decided to speak, "Not gonna lie kiddo, that's a big question," His voice lacked the cheerfulness it almost always carried, "And I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer it- BUT!" He held up a finger to quell the barrage of questions and objections that the pair would follow up with, instead gesturing them to follow and leading them to his Van, opening up the rear doors and rummaging through a dusty old box he was being sure to keep the kids from peeking in, he took out a photograph from a pile he'd been carefully sifting through, a moment later it was in Steven's hand, "Nobody could blame you for finding this in your old man's Van," He finished that cryptic statement with his usual grin and a conspiratorial wink. 

The kids glanced at each other before grinning at each other, returning the wink they quickly turned their gazes to the picture. 

It was unusual to say the least. Although at first glance it looked like a photo of a casual barbecue afternoon with the Gems,-including his mom- with Rose Quartz and Greg looked to be having a nice conversation with the latter standing over the grill, Garnet lounging on a pool chair, Amethyst in the far distance grinning as she chugged the lighter fluid she'd likely stolen. Pearl was nowhere to be seen, likely the one taking the picture. But there was a glaring white blur in the photo, closest to where Amethyst was. Though try add they might, the kids couldn't figure out why...

Connie was the first one to lift his head,  "Steven, do you have anything we could use at your home?"

Steven rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I think so.

"Then let's go, I have a feeling we are close to solving this!" She said and with a chorus of rushed thanks and farewells, Greg Universe was alone again, shaking his head at the seemingly endless energy the kids seemed to have at their disposal. He sat back on his chair, and grabbed his guitar again, a reminiscent grin coming unto his face as he prepared himself for the implications of the kids' investigation...

* * *

Amethyst was the only person present in the Beach House when Steven and Connie barged into the place, two sunglasses thrown aside immediately upon entering.

She looked up from her current form of snack, (which suspiciously resembled a loaf of bread brutally disemboweled and its insides filled with excessive amounts of mayonnaise and motor oil, wrapped in half-charred dough) and raised a brow as the two started to go through every nook and cranny they could find. 

"Connie, would this work?" Steven shouted from the loft, holding up a magnifying glass he'd gotten out of a cereal box a few weeks ago. 

Connie looked at what he was holding, shaking her head, "No," She herself had gone through many useful looking things in her search, increasing Amethyst's curiosity.

"What are you two looking for anyway?" Amethyst asked casually, finally managing to wrap the dough without tearing it apart, she gave herself a nod of appreciation before turning to the kids for an answer, only to be met with a pair of wide eyes starting at get like they'd just noticed she was there. 

Huh...

Weird.

"Oh! Amethyst, I... didn't see you there," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as Steven cane down from the loft and Connie stood next to him.

Steven was weird, that was a given, but he never acted  _this_ weird.

Unless...

She hopped down from the kitchen stool, sauntering up to them and looking up and down, noticing that Steven had something peeking out of his pocket, looking like it was tucked in with hurry,"

A moment later, Amethyst was holding it, much to the kids' chagrin.

It was photograph. 

She ignored their demands for her to give it back to them, easily holding the two back with a shape-shifted hand as she looked at the photo. 

And went pale as soon as she laid her eyes on it. 

The pushing stopped as Steven and Connie looked at her anxiously, "Amethyst, can you-"

She glanced up at them. Her eyes were wide as saucers, "Where did you get this?" Her voice was but an urgent whisper, as if she didn't want somebody to hear what she was saying. 

The kids shared a glance, "Amethyst, why-"

Before Connie was able to answer, Amethyst turned around and ran toward the temple door, their only clue still in her hand. They were quick to give chase, but she had already disappeared into the temple and the kids were left there, banging on the door after her. 

"Amethyst! Come back, we just want to know what that was!" Steven called, but it was for naught, the door did not budge and they were left without their only clue...

Steven groaned, and gave the temple door a final kick in anger, only to yelp and withdraw his foot back, bouncing on one leg as he held his aching foot. 

"Steven,"

Steven looked at Connie, surprised, "Huh?"

She was pointing at the Temple's star, "Please tell me you're seeing what I'm seeing."

"Wha..?" Steven looked, straining his eyes to notice what was different with the star, but it looked the same as always. With 5 Gems belonging to the Crystal Gems surrounding his Mother's Gem. 

Wait a minute. 

Steven did a quick count, "There's... Six," 

"One for you, one for Amethyst, one for Pearl, two for Garnet."

"Yeah,"

He did a once over, pointing at the smooth black oval at the bottom, "I've never seen that one before..."

Steven and Connie shared a glance for what it felt like the thousandth time that day. 

Something clicked into place in Steven's mind, which made everything start to make sense, how had he not noticed that before!

The Gems were not hiding something! 

They were hiding _someone_...


	4. We Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven's search turns into a hunt, he discovers a new power along the way, and an estranged inhabitant returns to Beach City...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for the rushed ending of 'Gem Mystery,' rest assured it will not happen again.

  _A feeling of fear that accompanies a flash of blinding light, a flash of pain that was conditioned to be ignored. Same conditioning urging to get up and continue to fight, only to be stopped._

_A flash of fear again, this time stronger than anything felt before as eye contact was made, light blue orbs glaring with vicious vigor._

* * *

  _A dark red glow, followed by vision being obstructed by thick plumes of smoke. An emotion filled laugh echoing over a field of shouts and screams._

* * *

  _A comrade’s reminder that broke through the blinding haze, humility mixed with grim satisfaction as two minds become one and the battlefield became theirs._

* * *

Steven rubbed his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, barely stopping himself from opening the door to Fish-Stew Pizza with his face.

It had been three full days since the revelation that there was a 4th (5th) Crystal Gem that the Gems had been hiding from him for his entire life. With that revelation, came a myriad of consequences that Steven could never expect. The Gems had been absent for the entire duration of that time, his father didn’t know anything about their whereabouts, and no matter how long he searched for them with Connie's help, he'd came up with nothing.

And the dreams…

They were entirely different than his usual dreams, which the internet had proven to be one of the only ordinary . Most of the time they were choppy scenes, the longest of which were no more than five seconds, other times they consisted of only a strong emotion with nothing discernible. It messed with his sleep and constantly made him tired.

Not that he’d been getting much of that with worrying about the Gems and all.

They'd know what to say, they'd know what was happening...

He felt useless without them.

His thought process came to a sudden halt when his stomach growled loudly, which reminded him of his purpose of coming to Fish-Stew Pizza. His exceptional cooking skills only got him so far when the only ingredients he could use were weeks old brussel sprouts that neither he nor Amethyst wanted to touch, and he didn't want to go for groceries when the Gems weren't home...

“The usual?” Kiki knowingly droned from her place behind the counter, his stomach having already introduced itself when the scent inside the shop hit his nose.

“Yes, please.” Steven responded, voice sheepish.

“One medium sized pepperoni and pineapple pizza, coming right up," She said and relayed the order to Nanefua, who gave a thumbs-up and a wave to Steven before starting to fulfill the order.

"Thanks Kiki," Steven said, bumping fists with Buck and Sour Cream each before taking a seat at the table closest to the counter. His eyes scanned the pizzeria in an effort to find something to distract himself from his soon-to-be sated hunger, which had only gotten more demanding as the various scents wafted throughout the Boardwalk restaurant.

It looked the same as it always did of course, so Steven turned his attention the the customers. Sour Cream and Buck chattering, Sour Cream deeply engrossed on his phone while Buck chewed on some pizza with a philosophic expression. Ronaldo as always, sitting by himself on the corner with his laptop, invested in one paranormal research among many.

And finally... An unfamiliar face.

He was sitting alone on the table closest to the window, with a table swamped with empty cups; a discarded pizza platter, and stacks upon stacks of files. From where Steven was sitting, he could see that the man had short black hair, rectangular rimmed glasses. He wore a white shirt and black suit pants, complete by a suit jacket that had been hung on the back of the chair. 

He was completely focused on the file in his hand, only stopping his reading to take a sip from the only full cup on the table or jot down notes on the notepad that somehow managed to find itself on the swamped table.

Steven, after a few minutes of deliberation, deduced that he was a tourist. It was the season after all. So he quashed his urge to go and strike up a conversation with him, partially because it was a non-written rule that Steven was to not disturb tourists away with his over-enthusiastic chirping, mostly because he was still hungry and his pizza had just arrived, courtesy of Kiki.

He thanked her and immediately started wolfing down on the pizza, all but forgetting the stranger as his taste buds were assaulted with his favorite flavors. It soon slowed to a halt though, as Steven noticed Kiki, standing over him with a contemplative look on her face.

"You noticed the new guy too?" She said in a hushed tone.

Steven swallowed the bite he was chewing, "Yeah," He nodded, "He's a tourist right?"

She shook her head, "Not quite," She glanced at him and sat down, leaning over to whisper to him, "So, I heard Jenny talking to Sour Cream and Buck about how he looked familiar," He shot a glance at the man, "I didn't think much of it because they meet a lot of people you know, and I don't remember meeting anyone like him," She shrugged, "Then I got curious because I saw a whole lot of 'Dewey' on those files when I was giving him his pizza. Then I asked Ronaldo to check the Beach City website for anything new on the Mayor, and there was this article there about how he was the Mayor's new lawyer who used to live here a long time ago or something,"

"That's nice, I guess," 

"Just thought you should now," She said, getting up, "Since I'm fairly sure that there was a photo of one of your moms in one of those folders,"

 _That_ got Steven's attention.

He couldn't question Kiki further however, as she hurriedly ran back to the counter to deal with Sour Cream and Buck, leaving Steven alone with all the sheer implications of what that meant and what that could mean. A wave of anxiousness crashed over him as he shot a glance at the man. 

His stare didn't last for more then two seconds as the busy man was stirred from his work by a phone call. Steven  ~~~~immediately looked down and immersed himself back on his pizza, which had lost a majority of its appeal after just 3 slices out of 8. He forced himself to eat another, just to settle the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"...Yes Mr. Dewey, there is no risk of a lawsuit," Maybe Steven should've felt bad for listening, but he was curious, "...you could drive it during election periods, that would lower the amount of complaints you get," There was a large pause, "I can look into that in about a weeks time, right now it's too soon to make a call," Another pause, "Right away," With that he got up, and crammed the files back into the bag he had with him, slinging his jacket over his shoulder and dropped some bills in the counter before hurrying out of the pizzeria.

Steven had a fairly good guess on what ' _that' was._

He settled on finishing the pizza back home.

Oh how he wished the Gems were back...

* * *

_Pearl was crying, Amethyst was nowhere to be seen, and she had spent enough time with Garnet to know that she was barely keeping it together. Rose had just broke the news to the team, and it had affected them all._

_She could safely say that she was... Sad._

_But she understood why she did it, and it wasn't in her place to object to her leader's actions._

_Now she was being called for a private audience, and she could only guess why._

* * *

_Pink curls swirled around her as Rose Quartz turned away._

_A feeling of despair unimaginable crashed over her like a tsunami._

_She clenched her fists and blinked away the tears, and marched out of the room like a dutiful soldier._

* * *

_"You're in big trouble," Amethyst's teasing tone gave her the sign she was waiting for to assume her usual form._

_She glanced down at the significantly shorter gem, settling on not giving her an answer, instead just settling down on the floor, cross-legged, and roaming her eyes through the towering piles of stuff that was in Amethyst's room, "You've added some new piles," Her voice sounded strained, and she held back the urge to wince at the unfamiliarity of it._

_The shorter Quartz nodded, "You've been gone for 13 years, of course I found some new stuff," She grinned, "That cannon you gave to Greggy is in here too, not sure how useful it'll be though," She snickered, "You saw to that,"_

_She shook her head at the sheer waste of effort that had gone into the cannon, "Will I find my frames in here then?" Her tone was meant to be teasing, but it came out as accusing. She decided that she was fine with that, she was not above being petty when it came to people messing with her belongings._

_Amethyst winced at that, "Sorry O, Pearl got the idea after Steven started coming into the Temple,"_

_It was her turn to wince, and break eye contact, "How... has Steven been?"_

_"He's tough, being 'napped didn't even faze him,"_

_She chuckled, but it was quick to fade away, because it sounded so **wrong,** "I wanted to be there," She looked at the ground._

_Amethyst shot her a look, "You came back, don't worry about it,"_

_"But I was late, and I couldn't go after them,"_

_Amethyst looked conflicted, debating internally with herself before finally settling on putting a hand on her shoulder, "Look, you did what you could and we're all grateful for it," Her tone sounded final, but it didn't have the affect that Amethyst clearly wanted, so she tried again, "Besides, Pearl totally threw a fit,"_

_She immediately jerked away from her hand upon hearing that, and she felt sheer horror, " **She what?!** "_

_"Yeah! And I swear the look she gave you when you were laying there shapeshifted was hilarious," Amethyst seemed to find that hilarious, although she sure couldn't find any humor in her words, too busy being afraid for her gem._

_" **YOU!** "  _

_It was like reliving her worst nightmare all over again, hearing Pearl's voice, out for her blood._

_She stumbled back, unceremoniously tripping over her own feet and falling on her behind in her haste to back away from Pearl, "What were you thinking?! What if Steven saw you?!" Her voice was a shrill scream, and she was glaring a hole through her, "It was not enough that you just had to make him suspicious with your messiness, now you go ahead and pull something like this without even thinking that who might be in the house!" Amethyst looked startled by Pearl's outburst, like she'd never seen this before._

_She shrunk further back, as far as she could go. "I-I..." Her tone had changed to one of panic._

_"Explain yourself!"_

_She was just shy of covering her face with her arms when her savior arrived, "Pearl," Intense amounts of relief crashed over her as Garnet's voice cut across Pearl's demands, immediately silencing her. "Let her speak,"_

_She finally found her voice"I- I had been t- tracking the escape pod," She felt more encouraged at Garnet's acknowledging nod, "I found it."_

_"And you just left it there?" She winced at Pearl's question._

_"I w-was unfamiliar with the technology," She defended her actions, "And seeing as they took you all prisoner without even much of a fight with that advantage, I saw it best to have backup before investigating further,"_

_"Alright," Was Garnet's response, "Me and Pearl will come with you, Amethyst will stay behind with Steven," Amethyst was in no position to object, as she was still shaken at the display of temper she'd never seen from Pearl before._

_"Alright," She echoed, shakily rising to her feet and schooling her features, "I'll show you," She turned toward the exit and made to lead them out, but she was stopped by Pearl, who was still glaring at her._

_"You are not going to leave right now, not with Steven still there," She winced and turned a desperate gaze toward Garnet and Amethyst, but there wasn't any luck there. Amethyst had immediately looked away, and she was certainly not getting anything from Garnet with how unaffected she looked by the whole ordeal._

_So she relented._

_She had brought it on herself after all..._

* * *

Steven took a deep breath, and gazed up at the door of the Temple.

He shot a look at the Warp Pad, still silent as ever as it had been for 4 days.

These weren't regular dreams he was having, Steven was sure of that.

He remembered how real they had felt, like he was feeling what 'O' had been feeling. The horror, the despair, the helplessness, down to the smallest of emotions when she had been teasing Amethyst. If only he'd been able to catch her, because he  _knew_ that she had been that random comb that Amethyst had taken into her room.

But it was too late for him to dwell on those.

So he focused his thoughts on one in particular as he thoughtfully glared at the pink gem right in the middle of the Crystal Gem Star. A moment passed where he thought that nothing was going to happen...

Then the Temple door glowed pink, and opened.

Steven released a shaky breath as he stepped in and let the door close and disappear behind him in a cloud of pink smoke.

He considered the implications of what he was about to do for a moment, but there was nothing bad that could make him turn back. He wanted the gems back,  _all of them_. This could be a surefire way to do that.

"Room, I want to go to 'O's' Room," A door appeared in front of him, he was about to go in when he remembered his previous experiences with the room, so he clarified with, "The real one, in the temple,"

The door disappeared, and a stairwell appeared, descending downwards and downwards, he couldn't even see the bottom.

Steven collected his resolve, and started the descent.


	5. The Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven descends into the darkest depths of the Temple for the closure he seeks...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came down to the last minute of the deadline, so I apologize if there are any errors

It went wrong as soon as the door to his Moms room closed behind him.

He had immediately stopped in his tracks, as there wasn't any light source and he was still descending a seemingly endless flight of stairs. He knew that his only exit had just closed behind him, which meant that it had now become his vested interest that he finds 'O's' room. He took out his phone and shone some light into the darkness, and continued ever downwards in his search.

But phone batteries tended not to last, and Steven was already having second thoughts about coming down here on a whim with little to no preparation.

The probability of an empty phone battery would be the least of his worries, however.

Because he wasn't alone...

The light he was shining had finally revealed an end to the seemingly bottomless stairwell, but with it came a myriad of noises. The sound of feral groans, the pitter-patter of either feet or the sound of dripping water coming from somewhere he couldn't see. It was enough to make Steven lose some of his nerves and physically quash the need to turn back and try a different command to enter the room he was seeking to enter.

Futile in the end mind you, because as soon as his feet left the stairs and touched the jagged stone of solid ground, a crash too close for comfort right behind him made the only way he could go forward.

Resigning himself to going forward, Steven shone some light in the room he was in. It was a narrow corridor, the walls of which were in bad condition, looking like someone had repeatedly bashed them in with how uneven they were, (well, it was either that or whoever built this place was a really bad builder) which could also be said for the ground he was standing on, because it was anything but smooth. The only way to go was a left turn little ways ahead.

On a separate note, the eerie sounds had increased.

Steven collected his thoughts and steeled his nerves with a smile that looked too much like a grimace to have the nonchalant effect he had been hoping for. He stepped forward, minding the gaps in the ground as he rounded the corner.

The smile fell immediately when he was met with a crossroads.

"Way to go, Steven," He chastised himself moodily, looking between the two roads with narrowed eyes screaming 'I don't like you' (although I might once I get to know you, 'it was the Steven way) "You got yourself into another mess..." He stopped himself before he could say 'without the gems' and looked between the two paths, debating which way he should go.

Just as he was about to check if he had a coin in his pocket, a terrible sound reverberated throughout the walls. A shrill roar, piercing his eardrums before it was joined by several other noises that blended into the background. Only when it faded away, could Steven pinpoint that it had originated from his right,

Suddenly not needing to search for a coin, Steven yelped, "Yup, that way!" And promptly turned left and started running in that direction, desperately wishing that his instincts were correct and continuously checking behind him as to determine if something was coming after him.

Turns out he should have wished for the opportunity to look where he was going because he slammed into a wall and fell backward with all his breath knocked out of him.

"Ow." He lay on the ground, clutching his hurting stomach and just staying there for a moment because he had decided to think things through rather than running around blindly. The sounds had ceased, which was some form of relief at least, but a little tossing and turning revealed that the path he would've taken if he were to continue on this route (a right turn) led to a dead end. Which had just confirmed a sneaking suspicion Steven was having the moment he'd stumbled into the crossroads.

He was in a maze.

And the only viable way to go was through whatever Gem Monsters awaited him.

"Oh, that's just great!" He shouted and sprawled on the ground with exasperation, but immediately jumped to his feet when the shrill roar from before sounded again, much briefer this time. It hadn't gotten any closer, which was a relief, but he still had to go in the direction of where it came from if he wanted to get to O's room.

_Wonderful..._

He wondered if this was O's room, or if this was a part of the Temple that led there like how the Gems' room could lead to each other, and why were there monsters in the Temple if that was the case? A lot of questions that needed to be answered, all the more reasons to find what he was looking for. (He didn't know what he was looking for yet, but he had a feeling that he would know what it was when he saw it)

He sighed and collected his thoughts again, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. He checked his phone's battery, which was just teetering over the 40 line. Nodding in slight affirmation to himself, he marched forward, poised to summon his bubble at the slightest hint of danger.

It wasn't long until his slightly non-perilous (spiders) journey came to a halt again at a large room. Well, he said room, but it was more akin to a cavern once he had done a proper once-over of it because it was practically huge compared to how narrow everything had been. The walls were still uneven like before, as was the floor. A jagged slope curving just a few feet below served as an exit and the air had gotten thicker. But what set the room apart from all that was the fact that it was hot.

He wouldn't say that it was boiling per se, but it was definitely enough to make him uncomfortable. A lucky guess involving a sweaty forehead revealed what could be the source as another exit out of the cavernous room little ways off to the left, an orange/red gleam shining from there, easily missed at a first glance. Steven could hazard a pretty good guess on what that could be.

He cleared his thoughts and scanned the room again; the direction of the gleam seemed inaccessible from his position, being several feet above where he currently was, and seeing as he couldn't just simply manifest flight powers, he was stuck going below, which was the way with the jagged slope that went straight down, which would be uncomfortable to say the least, the same could be said for everything about this maze.

Sparing not another second on that thought, Steven simply approached it and looked to see if there was anywhere he could slide without it being extremely uncomfortable. When he finally found a place where he could slide down comfortably, he did so.

It was nothing short of a horrible experience.

And it ended horribly too because the slope ended in a sudden upward arc that made him face-plant on the ground, causing him to drop his phone and hearing it shatter into a thousand pieces not two feet away from him.

But he had heard rather than saw because he was suddenly surrounded by a fog, so dense that he could not even see in front of him.

And he had also heard, the same sound that he had heard since he had entered this place.

The same shriek that had sounded so far away before, now seemed like it was coming right behind him.

He could barely get his bubble to appear when something slammed into it, sending it -and by extension, him- flying forwards. Another blow soon collided with the pink surface and sent him flying out of the fog, the bubble shield popped as soon as it collided with the fog.

Steven didn't wait to find out what it was, immediately rising to his feet and dashing blindly in the first direction he could. The maze had erupted with thousands of shrieks and roars that were feral in nature, all aimed at Steven, who had forgotten all of his composure and screaming as he ran as fast as he could.

In his haste, he barely noticed the shadow lunging at him, ducking down just in time to avoid whatever it was. The thing roared at him, but Steven didn't look back as he just continued running and running, but whatever it was that was chasing him, rapidly gained ground.

Just as Steven contemplated about fighting back, all sound ceased.

And suddenly he was not being chased anymore...

And the ground was rumbling.

Steven stopped in his tracks when he realized that, finally looking around his surroundings to realize he's in a hallway with no end or beginning in sight, with no light or possible way to know where he was going.

It was only natural that Steven got frustrated by this.

What was not natural, however, was the wall swallowing him right after he leaned on it with clear implications of anger.

* * *

 

It was a complete change of atmosphere...

After the wall had literally swallowed him, he had found himself in a wide room, not unlike one would find in a history book.

The walls consisted of stone bricks and were lined with torches lit with a blue flame. Armor stands and weapon racks full off various weaponry and armor that looked to be in pristine condition were carefully arranged in between, a soft rug covered the entirety of the area and stopped at a small flight of stairs that was high enough for Steven to not see anything above them. Overcome with curiosity, and having forgotten all previous anger an frustration, Steven went up to them.

What immediately caught his eye was the fact that the walls were empty, save a couple of paintings strewn about randomly and lanterns organized in a neat line, a larger-than-average table right in the middle of the room that was stacked with papers, a pile of boxes stacked neatly against the back wall, an electronic guitar propped on the wall at the corner of the room, looking like it had seen better days with how much dust it had collected, and finally, perhaps the most perplexing thing in the room.

A lone bubble, containing an Axe. Standing over the only armor rack upstairs, the armor looked like it could crumble any second with how many arrows were piercing it.

Steven had a pretty good guess on what happened to its owner.

Not wanting to dwell on that unpleasant thought, Steven instead focused on the thought that was the happiest one since he'd gotten himself into this mess.

He'd found O's room.

It was a hard journey, and it had cost him his 4th phone, but he'd done it.

Now, to find some clues on who she was...

He approached the table, and grabbed the stack of papers on top of it, "This should come in handy..."

He would've started reading them, had his stomach not just grumbled, making him realize just how tired and hungry he was. He had what he came for, and seeing as there was no food, a bed, or even a chair in the room, he could leave with the papers and bring them back when he was finished resting and reading through them.

So he turned to the door, right next to the stack of boxes and watched as it opened, stepping out and re-entering the Beach House with a sense of accomplishment and renewed excitement at the things the future ought to bring.

Only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw Amethyst there, looking at him with wide eyes, the Warp Whistle in her hand.

Just then, the Warp Pad lit up.

Revealing two familiar figures.

And an unfamiliar one...


	6. Voiceless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission Completed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry about the lack of updates, College Prep has taken all of my time.

Silence...

Not the one that had reigned over the Beach House for the duration of 4 days, only disturbed by the machinations of Steven in his desperate efforts to drown his worries and boredom in Video Games and a healthy variety of TV shows. No, it was the silence of another kind, the kind that happened when everyone involved was too shocked to say a word, or even move.

Because the Gems were back.

_All of them._

Amethyst, who was still looking at him with shock, clutching the warp whistle in her hand like she wanted to break it in two. Pearl, likewise with her shocked expression, only her hands were covering her mouth as she looked at Steven. Only Garnet looked unfazed by his sudden appearance, her only movement being the slight adjustment of her cracked visor and the little smile she gave to him.

And just behind them was another gem, the same gem whom Steven had been chasing after for what felt like months, carrying Peridot's escape pod on her back while she stood there, looking at him with pure and unfiltered horror and shock.

She was tall, and he meant  _tall._ Easily towering over both Pearl and Amethyst, even standing a foot above Garnet in a way that reminded him of Jasper. The similarities (There were a lot of those...) didn't end there either, because she also had the same wild white mane he'd seen on Jasper and Amethyst, cascading down her back and stopping just before it brushed the ground. There were white stripes littered throughout her crimson skin.

The similarities ended there, however, because whereas Jasper was bulky, she was lean. Her body language screamed 'uncomfortable' instead of confident and antagonistic. Her attire was far from the standard uniform that Jasper wore, (he assumed anyway because Peridot and her looked the same in that department) but it was far from the casualness that Amethyst's had. A dark sleeveless shirt and black trousers, her right arm was covered up to her shoulder by a glove, if one looked closer they could see that a black, oval gem embedded into the palm.

And if one looked even closer to the significantly shorter glove that covered her left, they would see a white star...

_Woah..._

 " _ **Steven!**_ " Pearl's voice cut through the silence, breaking everyone out of their daze as she rushed to his side, "You're injured!" Steven had to hide his disappointment at the loss of a hug, but her words and frantic checkup had prompted him out of his daze to look at his state for the first time. His clothes were ripped and cut up in places and he supported various bruises and cuts where those places were, he'd lost one of his slippers, and he was pretty sure the sluggishness he was feeling wasn't because it was currently midnight. 

He started struggling after Pearl's checkup got more insistent, "Pearl! I'm fine!" Pearl threw him a wholly unimpressed look that screamed ' _No, you're not_ ' as her hand reached into her gem and retrieved a first-aid kit after a flash of light.

"I knew it was a mistake to leave you here with Amethyst!" She complained to no one in particular, rifling through the first aid kit in an urgent manner, "She should've known better than to let you play around in the Temple!" Amethyst's scowl that had been getting longer and longer as she talked turned into a full snarl after she had finished her small tangent, although Steven could not help but relax at the familiarity of it.

After they'd been missing for 3 straight days, he would gladly admit that he'd missed them dearly, even their bickering...

"I was trying to get him off of Onyx' back, not like _you_ made it easy!" She shot back, unintentionally giving away the name of the gem he'd been searching for what it felt like years. Which of course, caused him to turn his attention back to the crimson gem.

Not easy, given the fact that Pearl was sticking him full of band-aids while somehow maintaining a perfect argument with Amethyst.

And her...  _Onyx,_ covering her face with the Escape Pod as soon as she'd seen he was looking directly at her.

Which had not gone unnoticed by Garnet, who had simply whispered something in her ear and took the Escape Pod off her hands like it weighed nothing, gaining herself an accusing stare from the taller gem, for whatever reason it may be...

He watched as Garnet set the pod beside the Warp Pad, calmly walking over to Pearl whose bickering with Amethyst had reached oblivious levels and she didn't even notice when Garnet plucked the first aid kit from Pearl's hand. She silently indicated for Steven toward the couch as she rummaged through the kit with a lot less urgency than Pearl had.

He sat down, setting the papers right him after he'd brushed down some of the mess that had accumulated without the gems there to help clean it up, his eyes once again drifting to the unfamiliar gem.

She was still standing on the Warp Pad, just as she'd been the entire time, her eyes darting between the bickering Pearl and Amethyst, and back to them repeatedly. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable, so he gave her a warm smile and waved, accepting the wave she sent back -brief and hesitant though it may be,- as a victory. 

"You went into her room," Garnet said, hands moving carefully as she tended to his wounds with his considerable help.

He grimaced, and spoke after a moment of hesitation, "I was having some dreams..." He said, "About her, I mean," He quickly added as he practically felt her raised eyebrow through her cracked visor, "It was like... I was seeing through her eyes," He was about to go into further detail before he stopped, Onyx had finally stepped off the Warp Pad.

"That's new." She said after his gaze returned to her, her mouth pressing in a thin line as Onyx descended the flight of stairs, "Pearl, Amethyst." Their bickering immediately stopped, and all eyes were drawn to Garnet, and by extension, Onyx standing right beside her and Steven.

"We've put this off for long enough." She said, "Steven has been having his suspicions for a while now." She stood up and turned to the taller gem, "Onyx,"

"Garnet," Her voice was low, just a sliver above a whisper.

"Is she coming back?" Amethyst spoke up, breaking the silence that had taken hold, Steven could feel the tension snapping in the air even before Pearl snapped herself.

"Absolutely not," She snapped.

"Why not?" Steven asked, finding himself under Onyx guarded gaze.

"It was her decision," Garnet said, "One we did not object to," Amethyst snorted at that, Pearl glared. 

"And what does she want?" He pressed.

Pearl frowned, "It doe-"

She was interrupted by Onyx almost immediately as she spoke, "I want to stay," Steven paused,  _wait..._ "If you'll have me," Her voice was still quiet and strained like she was struggling to speak, "I can do this," But what was more perplexing about her voice, was however that it was  _different._ Her voice had changed halfway through her sentence.

More pieces clicked into place right before Steven's eyes.

"I agree," Garnet said, her voice carrying an air of finality just as Amethyst nodded her agreement.

Pearl looked as though as she might object, but she thought better of it, she knew when an effort was futile.

"Welcome back, Onyx."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Late Night bonding...


	7. Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has trouble sleeping, and Onyx is home...

Steven was having trouble sleeping.

It may or may not have something to do with the seven-foot tall gem sitting just below where he was, reading through the pile of papers he had found in her room after one of the most harrowing adventures he'd ever been on, (not counting any interstellar kidnappings of course) judging by the rustling sounds that would occasionally happen.

He turned again, looking at the clock beside his bed. Noting that it had been just been an hour since _everything_ had changed. The gems had been quick to file out of the room and into the temple. Pearl having been the first one out, practically storming out of the room after the decision was made, she was followed by Amethyst after the smaller Quartz in the room had made sure Steven was okay and well sharing a small smile with Onyx. Garnet had left last, taking her time in tucking Steven into bed.

His gaze drifted to the white hair that slightly poked over to the floor his bed was even from the couch. The owner of it still in the same spot she'd been in for an hour, the routine would only be broken with the occasional sigh here and an unintelligible whisper there. Each sigh carrying a pitch different from the one before, just like each whisper.

That was a very prominent habit it seemed, but Steven would use it frequently if he had an awesome power like that.

Putting that thought aside, ( _for now_ ) Steven focused on the questions in his head, which numbered in the millions. He couldn't bring himself to voice them though, his hesitance mostly due to the exhaustion that was quickly clouding his judgment after such an eventful day. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he was denied sleep still.

 _Onyx,_ was her name. Steven had been given a very brief lesson on Homeworld and his mother's Rebellion after everything that had happened with Jasper and Peridot. Although he was sure that they hadn't given him all the details.

Like Onyx...

_She was a Crystal Gem._

Why didn't the others say anything about her?

Of course, he could just ask, but he would never be able to get a straight answer.

 _Nobody_ gave him a straight answer these days.

 _Your mother could only save a handful of her closest friends._ His dad had told him, was she one of them? Would she be able to tell him anything about Rose Quartz that the others wouldn't? Why was she absent for most of his life? Why was Pearl so mad at her? What had she done that would warrant that kind of treatment?

So many questions, yet he couldn't get them out.

What would have been better about this whole ordeal was if he could sleep, at this point, he felt like sleep would be just the thing to solve all of his problems.

Sleep would have also helped him with sharper senses.

Sharper senses that would have helped immensely with noticing Onyx when she turned around and immediately locked gazes with him before he even had a chance to react or make himself inconspicuous. 

Her crimson eyes bored into his, shining with both tentativeness and inquisitiveness that mirrored his expression quite nicely as he just lay in his bed like he'd been rooted to the spot, unable to do anything.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Steven, she spoke, "Humans don't sleep like that," Her tone was that of a playful accusation, helped by the light and pleasant tone that had overcome her voice.

"Yeah..." He said lamely, finally able to find the words to speak. Lifting himself up to a sitting position with more than a little hardship, but all it did was make him come to terms with the fact that sleep would continue to elude him until he at least got some answers.

There was a slight pause as she got up from the couch, setting the papers down on the coffee table and turning her gaze to the interior of the house, examining the place before finally turning to him again, "Are you okay?" Her voice was coated with concern, and she hadn't changed voices this time.

"Yeah," He said again, "Just sore," That soreness was mostly attributed to his exhaustion, but she didn't need to know that until he'd gotten his answers.

She climbed the steps toward his bed, sitting cross-legged beside his bed and fixing her gaze on him, "Surely my room isn't that dangerous," Her voice was accusatory, which reminded him of Pearl whenever she was trying to fish out a confession from Amethyst when she knew the latter had done something to make her angry.

He rubbed the back of his head guiltily, blushing as she chuckled, "It wasn't your room, it was the... Maze?"

Amusement dropped from her face, "You... were in the Catacombs?"

"The Catacombs?"

It was her turn to look abashed, "It was my idea," She said, before turning serious, "It's the part of the temple that leads to my room, infested with monsters,"

"Why didn't you guys deal with it?"

"I was going to... but I had to leave," She had deflated at the last part, and he made a note in his head about being careful when inquiring about that subject, "The best I could do was seal all the entrances." Her gaze returned to him, "Which seems to have failed, I apologize."

Steven shook his head and elaborated when she tilted her head in curiosity, "Don't be sorry, I kinda used my mom's room,"

She looked surprised at that, "Your powers are developing faster than I was led to believe," She smiled at him and nodded her approval, and he grinned back at her, "But still, the apology stands." She interrupted him before he could protest, "Were you able to read the notes?"

"No, I was going to read over them but then..." She nodded in understanding.

"There is no need for them any longer, it was just a set of instructions,"

"For?"

"You," She didn't elaborate further, and silence settled between them as Steven processed all the answers he'd gotten so far. It had answered all the little questions, but the big one still stood over them ominously.

It was time he asked it anyway.

"Why did you... leave?"

The silence had turned uncomfortable the second he'd asked that question. Onyx had averted her gaze and planted it firmly away from his. "It was my decision..." She said after a few moments, looking like she was having trouble getting the words out, "After it became apparent that Rose Quartz would be gone," The trouble she was having when saying that made Steven feel a tug of regret and sadness.

"I'm sorry..." He said, with no small amount of sorrow in his voice. How could he be so blind? It all eventually boiled down to her mom giving her physical form to bring him into the world. It was why Pearl was so sad every time she felt sentimental, it was why Amethyst had blamed his dad, it was why Garnet had become such a pillar of strength for everyone that whenever she faltered, all of them faltered with her.

And now, it was why Onyx had left...

"What?"

He looked up to see Onyx, her gaze snapped to him and her crimson eyes burning with a questioning look. He was surprised by how imposing she looked, not to mention the look in her eyes like she truly didn't understand what she was saying. Which was his fault he chastised himself internally, vagueness never got anyone anywhere.

So he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and answered, "I mean, you guys are all sad because my mom's gone, and I'm the reason she's gone." He took a deep breath, "So I guess... I kinda feel responsible?" He phrased that last part as a question because even after all this time, he still had no idea what to think about that particular subject...

There was a moment of silence after that, "Oh..." She said finally, running a hand through her white mane and shaking her head vehemently at the same time, "No no no, that's not what I meant," She took a deep breath and focused on his questioning gaze, "I left because I was bad influence." The last part was said through gritted teeth.

"Bad influence?" He couldn't help but ask.

She sighed, and the next time she spoke, her voice was a pitch quieter, "The Rebellion was over, but it's hard to distance yourself from war when you were made for it. I decided that I would leave before I imposed that on you. The others _agreed._ " She turned back to him with a small smile, "I was actually quite excited about you, before that revelation,"

He grinned and she chuckled, for some reason that feeling immense relief about her confession. He knew it was not the full truth of course, but he could always get more out of it later. He could understand her reasoning, even if he didn't agree with it. The gems couldn't have just let it go like that.

She looked back at the temple door, and slowly rose to her feet, "I would prefer it if you don't mention this conversation to Pearl,"

"Why?"

"Seriously?" She asked, looking at him like he was the craziest person in the universe, "Have you seen her? She's scary," He could do nothing else but raise a skeptical eyebrow at that, which only earned him a hair-ruffling as she chuckled again, "Sleep, or it will be Garnet that will be after my gem," He nodded with a smile.

"Goodnight Onyx,"

"Goodnight... Steven."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: First Week


End file.
